A DaRkEr TrUtH
by XxShadowArchangelxX
Summary: The Dursleys are dead, the Amulet is the only thing keeping him alive and the Malfoys are keeping a close eye on him making it nigh impossible to complete his masters wishes that will finally set him free. Harry vs. Nathanael? A true identity crisis.
1. Prologue

**A Darker Truth**

I disclaim anything that isn't mine ~ XxShadowArchangelxX

_The Dursleys are dead, the Amulet is the only thing keeping him alive and the Malfoys are keeping a close eye on him making it nigh impossible to complete his masters wishes that will finally set him free. Harry vs. Nathanael? A true identity crisis._

**Prologue**

**1997**

The boy crouched down low behind the brick building in the dead of night, his figure consumed by the shadows casted by the street lamp behind him. Across the street, in a small run down town house his target watched through a lit window with care, he knew what was coming, he just didn't know when.

The light behind the boy flickered and he smiled, she was right on time as always.

"Are you ready, master?" asked a female's voice from somewhere in the night.

The boy stood up slowly still hiding within the shadows. He could have not been much older than thirteen; he was short and slender with his long black cloak hanging off his shoulders. His face was pale and thin, his high cheek bones dominating over the rest of his features. As fragile as he looked he carried himself with stealth and pride.

"The question is are _you_ ready?" he asked into the darkness.

The light behind the boy flickered once more before it went out devouring the street behind him in darkness. It was time.

The boy turned and began walking into the night away from the small town house, hiding in the gloom of the dark. No human's eyes could trace his path.

His plan was simple and fool proof.

He stopped at the end of the street and waited for the next signal. Far away in the forest a wolf howled savagely, its snarl echoing through the night. The boy ignored the creature's cries and turned left to continued on his journey. His step was feather light and made no noise as he hurried across the gravel road. The street he was in was quiet and dark, the houses identical along the street with the few exceptions of personal touches from their owners.

A movement behind a gnome in one of the gardens grabbed the boy's attention. He stopped dead and looked around, he saw no other sign of life. He drew closer, he could clearly see the bricked house as if it was day. The house appeared ugly to the boy as the owner had drawn lime green lacy curtains over the windows and the garden was unkempt with weeds strangling the little plants that adorned the grounds. The worst of it was the gnomes, they plagued the garden as much as the weeds.

He sighed, there was no point getting worked up, he passed the stirrer as a rat and continued.

He once again turned left and slowed his pace, he needed to tread carefully from this point on, his enemy was weak, but still dangerous. He pulled up his hood drawing a dagger from his belt, he had no more chances for mistakes or _his_ master would, without doubt, punish him and it wasn't just a mere slap on the wrist either.

Ahead of him a smashing of glass and a menacing scream told him he was late, there was no more time for pondering.

He broke into a run, time was running out quickly and he could not let the target escape. He reached the building he was looking for. Even for a small run down town house it was more sinister than the ones around it. The look of the building gave the boy the creeps with the dark paint work and tinted windows, but pushing his doubts aside, he neared the rear door of the house, the only thing that stood between him and his goal now was a white picket fence. Or so he thought.

He swept his eyes around his surroundings once more before, sticking the blade between his teeth, jumping over the fence.

The boy gasped in alarm, dropping his blade, as he landed right in the path of a snoring beast. The beast stirred at the noise, opening its eyes to stare at the boy for a moment, startled by the sudden appearance. The boy could do nothing more than stare back, his heart beating fast as an icy terror gripped it.

The monster climbed onto its hind legs, hackles raised, not once taking its eyes off the boy. The beast was a good head taller than him, its sword like claws scrapping along the pavement as it stretched to full height.

The boy felt his legs begin to shake, he couldn't move. A fear he had never felt before rose up into his chest, freezing him into place.

The monster took a step closer, flicking its long furry black tail in triumph, its yellow stained eyes showing the boy it hadn't had fresh meat in years. The boy tried stepping back but couldn't, his feet were plastered to the ground, this was certainly the death of him.

The monster took another step closer and lowered its head to the same level as the boy's. It was so close now, the boy could smell death and decay, that of rotting meat, on the monsters breath. It smelt of the fate that the boy was about to meet.

The beast growled, its mouth drawn back, showing a jaw of dagger teeth, its scaly face now only millimetres away. The boy squirmed slightly looking for a way to escape if only he could _move_!

Suddenly, a large black wolf jumped over the boy onto the monsters back. The monster roared in frustration and straightened to full height, grabbing for the pest that dared disturb it. The wolf jumped for the ground as a clawed hand reached for it, landing neatly between the boy and the monster. The beast twitched as it studied the new situation. The boy did the same, and taking what he saw as chance he ran for the door, using fear as his only motivation.

The beast moved with him with a frightening speed for something its size, and knocked the boy away with a swat of its paws. The boy cried out in pain as he felt claws rip into his side.

The boy was there, lying on the pavement, slowly feeling the red liquid ooze from his body as the beast come back into view.

Acting as a distraction, the wolf jumped for the beast again, but the beast was too quick. Using its front paw, it swatted the wolf away like a fly. The wolf howled in pain as it flew across the night and landed hard against the brick wall.

"SIRIUS, NO!" The boy hardly noticed his mistake as he called for the wolf.

He tried to move with no luck. His loss of blood had seeped away his energy, but not his rage that now rang in his ears. He could hear them now, all the voices that told him he was weak, that he couldn't do it, that he was a failure.

The beast stopped just above the boy, licking it's lips with its long red tongue, teasing him.

No longer afraid the boy held his breath and closed his eyes, _inviting_ the monster. The beast looked on in interest but did not move any closer as the voices continued to run through the boy's head, telling him was useless, that he was a pathetic excuse for a wizard, that common stones had more brains than him, and he was better off dead.

A surging energy pulsed through the boy and he opened his eyes, they were flooded with the fire of rage.

The beast tried to retreat as the night was consumed by a sickly white glow and an ear-splitting cry. In a matter of seconds the night was once again dark, only to be lit up again by a powerful flame that filled the sky. As the flames continued to burn, the crying of the beast slowly faded until it was no longer heard...

**(A/N: Please do not be put off by the short chapter it is, after all, only a prologue)**


	2. Chapter 1

**A Darker Truth**

**(A/N: I must warn you that I've changed a couple of the characters personalities, so if you don't like it stiff cheddar, go read something else.)**

**Chapter 1 **

**1999 – Fifth year.**

His master had given him his last mission. If he completed it efficiently, he was boundless, he was _free_. The word flowed through him like a river, his freedom was the only thing he wished for after five years of orders and confinement.

"Keep your head out of the clouds, master, we have company," hissed a familiar voice in his ear.

The boy shook all the thoughts of freedom out of his head and looked around. He was alone enough, though there was a commotion just outside his door. Pulling up his hood, the boy obscured his face in shadows and glanced out the window. He had no idea where he was, this part of country area wasn't assigned to him. He watched in silence as trees and creeks sped past him.

The sound of his compartment door opening caught his attention, but he didn't move, he contained his posture and continued to silently stare out the window.

"Excuse me, do you mind?" asked a breathless female voice.

Resisting temptation, the boy ignored the voice and continued his gazing.

"I'm going to take that as a yes, you can go sit with the Slytherins, if you must," said a second voice. It was male. "Quickly then, before Malfoy can ferret his way up here."

Something in that sentence caught the boy's interest. The name Malfoy wasn't unfamiliar to his ear.

"Master, don't be rash," the voice hissed in his ear again. She stopped him just before he was about speak and break his cone of silence, that was the first step towards failure, unable to contain your own silence. In the underworld, silence is what protects your identity and your identity was your life.

He heard the rustling of feet and scrambling of luggage, then silence. He went back to concentrating on the train's progress, with the occasional noise of turning pages and impatient sighs.

His state of mind slowly eased back to the thought of his freedom. It was careless of him, but it was the only thing that kept his mind at ease about the mission, for the first time in his life he was nervous. Not because he knew nothing of the realm he was about to enter, he was use to adapting to new surrounds quickly, but of the actual mission itself.

At first he had foolishly laughed at his master, deeming it impossible, but after a fair beating he knew his master mocked him not. But he could see why his master was granting his freedom after his mission, there wasn't much chance of his survival.

His thoughts disappeared quickly as the compartment door was wrenched open. For the first time since the new arrivals, the boy looked away from his world beyond the window.

"Weasel! Why is this dirty animal scavenging throw my bag?"

The boy recognised the speaker at once, not because of his slick blonde hair or sneering look, but in the manner of his tone. His words held determination for power, quite like the man he took his orders from.

Draco Malfoy stood at the compartment door holding a fat rat by its tail, it was obvious he was disgusted by the rat's appearance. He didn't seem to notice a third presence in the compartment.

The boy smiled from under his hood. The rat Malfoy held in his hand lay still as it slept, its fur covered in food scraps, probably that of which Malfoy's mother had packed for the journey to Hogwarts. That scene somehow amused him.

The girl sitting across from him sniggered quietly to herself. The boy looked up at her for the first time, it seemed her only feature that made her different from any other girl was her brown bushy hair and the book in her hands.

"I wasn't talking to you," Malfoy sneered at her. "_Mudblood_."

The girl stopped laughing immediately.

The boy looked from her to Malfoy. She looked slightly pained, but did nothing. To the boy it looked like she was use to this savage name calling and had given up fighting back, and to his utter disgust Malfoy was smiling at her hurt, triumphantly.

The boy looked at her companion that sat next to her. He was tall with red hair and freckles, but made no attempt to defend his friend, all he could seem to do was glare back at Malfoy.

"Get out," the boy said threateningly, just loud enough for Malfoy to hear him. He felt the red-haired boy's eyes staring at him.

"Oh, you must be the new kid," Malfoy sneered, finally noticing the boy. "I'm Draco Malfoy."

The hooded figure said nothing.

"You must be Nathanael," he continued. "Nathanael Dark-_E_."

That was it, the boy snapped, he could no longer take the taunting from someone as low as a Malfoy. Pulling a dagger from its new hiding spot within his robe, in a quick swift movement the boy had Malfoy pressed up against the inside wall of the compartment, his dagger pressed against Malfoy's bare throat.

Nathanael felt the rat in Malfoy's hand fall to the floor, and the red head scrambling to reach his prized pet. Now the once sneering Malfoy was now nothing more than an intimidated little boy.

"It's a silent 'e' asshole," he hissed into Malfoy's ear.

Nathanael felt a power overcome him as the boy tried to shrink away in his hands, a power to dominate over another. It was a sheer look that stopped him there and then from cutting the boy's throat.

He glared into Malfoy's eyes and was surprised to see a reflection of himself within them. He was suddenly staring at himself, a boy cowering under his master, awaiting the fate that was to be bestowed.

Nathanael let go of the boy and hastily stowed away his dagger, he was appalled with himself. He just realised he was turning into the thing he hated the most, he was turning into his master.

Nathanael watched as the trembling boy stumbled to his feet and fled down the hall, and deciding he was far enough from his enemy, he turned back around.

"Believe me," he hissed, straightening out his robe, "You won't hear the last of this, _Nathanael_, wait until my father hears of this!"

Nathanael snorted, he knew Malfoy was full of empty threats even though his cowering had stopped and he was back to his devilish self.

He moved out of the compartment and towards Malfoy, Malfoy begun to retreat even though there was a few meters between them.

That's when a throng of people decided to join the scene, watching what the newcomer would do the one of the richest, most powerful student within Hogwarts.

"What happened to not drawing attention to yourself, master? You'll soon be known as the boy who defies the wicked," ranted the same voice in his ear.

"Hush Amitiel," he scowled, just loud enough for her to hear. "Let them think what they want, they may play a more vital role in the weeks to come."

"If you say so, master." Then she fell silent.

Nathanael continued to advance toward the boy, ignoring the encouraging jeers from the other students. Maybe he was acting a little childish, but he knew one thing for sure, he wasn't going to let others push him around any longer.

Malfoy continued to retreat further backwards as Nathanael advanced on him, he wasn't sure what Nathanael would do, and he knew the boy wanted nothing to do with him, he was a fool not to know that.

He tripped over a heap of luggage that decked the middle of the carriage and fell to the floor hitting his head hard on the wall of the carriage. A countless number of bright colours danced before Malfoy's eyes as he desperately tried to struggle to his feet. He saw a dark figure obscure his view and it swam in and out of focus, surly the boy would not kill him in front of so many witnesses.

The boy pulled back his hood. Malfoy could easily observe the boys light messy brown hair that spiked down to his shoulder, and the smooth pale skin the hugged tightly onto his high cheek bones.

"Give it up, Malfoy," the boy sneered at him. "You know you'll never win."

Malfoy tried to sit up, but the boy put a booted foot on his chest and pushed him back down to the ground. He was now aware that all the onlookers were silent.

The boy smiled down at him. Malfoy looked back at the boy confused, his smile carried no hint of triumph or even mockery. It was a smile of a friend.

"I still get you every time, don't I?" he laughed.

"He nearly wet himself that time, though, master, did you see it? He truly thought we were going to kill him."

Malfoy grimaced at the new found voice. It was a voice of a woman he wished he had never known.

"Well, at least help me up," he scowled at the Nathanael.

Nathanael's face lit up as he pulled Malfoy to his feet, Malfoy holding Nathanael's arm for support.

Once on his feet they both looked about them, the whole carriage starred at the two in silent shock. None knew what to think.

"Well this is awkward," Nathanael finally said more to himself than anyone in particular.

As though they had all heard, the throng of students all turned back into their compartments, closing their doors behind them. No doubt about it, Nathanael knew they were all huddling in their groups talking about what had just taken place, but he hardly cared, he hadn't seen his friend for such a long time.

Malfoy suddenly began to speak "I thought I would never see you again," he said, a sadness clinging to his words. "Not after what happened."

Nathanael searched his friends face, he looked no different than he had all those years ago, just a little taller. The expression he wore, told Nathanael one thing. Malfoy still blamed himself for what happened, even though it was Nathanael himself that had encouraged him, they were both to blame.

"Draco, I-"

Malfoy cut him short. "Do not worry about it, Nathanael. It was the past, but I will tell you one thing..." He stopped.

"What?" Nathanael asked, looking around. Perhaps he had heard something.

"That bloody hurt you know," he said, smiling.

Nathanael looked back at him perplexed, what was he talking about?

Malfoy rubbed the back of his throbbing head.

That's when it hit him, "Oh, I'm sorry about that, I just wanted to scare you."

"Kill me more like it!"

Both boys began to laugh.

"Perhaps it's better that way, remember, it could always be arranged," the woman's voice said.

From under Nathanael's cloak he felt a cold chill run down his arm, she was about to show herself. Appearing from the collar of his robe, a small weary head looked around, as if it had just woken up from a long deep sleep.

"You haven't changed at all have you, Amitiel?" Malfoy asked the new arrival.

"Of course not," she sneered as if offended. She crawled out of Nathanael's cloak and made her way down his arm. "But you still smell like horse manure, as always."

Malfoy pouted. "You're still on about that? I thought we shook on it?"

The creature smiled evilly, making Nathanael roll his eyes. "But I don't have any hands."

"You know what I mean."

"That's enough you two, your bickering is something I didn't miss," Nathanael growled as the creature opened her mouth to argue back. "For know, I must return to my compartment. And _you_," he said, looking accusingly at Malfoy, "Don't let me hear you criticize someone of lower status to you, or you will know about."

Malfoy took this as no empty threat, his friend wasn't the one for such childish deceptions. "It's just-"

"Later, I must go." And with that Nathanael turned away from his friend and headed back towards his compartment, his companion still clinging to his arm.

He had forgotten about the two students that had sat across from him in his compartment and was surprised to see them. The girl sat at the window, her legs crossed, reading the book that now sat in her lap. The red-head sat next to her stroking his pet rat that lay on the seat beside him. Both became tense at his return, the red head even pulling his wand out, but neither spoke they just watched him silently from the corner of their eyes.

He sighed. He was custom to following strict orders that carried out punishment if he could not comply with them, but he saw no harm in disobeying them now, his master would never know.

He sat down opposite them and pulled his bag from under his seat. From it he pulled a large packet of chocolate.

"Do you want some?" He asked in a soft voice.

They paid no heed to his presence. He sighed again stashing the chocolate back in his bag, it was probably best that they ignored him, but he hadn't had company for so long, even though he had just been united with his childhood friend, he still felt alone.

His pet climbed back up his arm and coiled herself around his neck onto his other arm, she knew exactly what he was thinking.

"In the end you'll always have me," she whispered.

Nathanael smiled at her weakly, patting her flat head, but said nothing.

"I guess I deserve that," he said speaking to his pet, but aiming the words at the two across from him. "I was a bit harsh ignoring them, don't you think, Amitiel?"

She stared back at him as he tickled under her chin.

"I guess I was just a little shy, we were both in that house for far too long..."

He felt the girl look up from her book and the boy loosen the grip on his wand.

"Maybe it was better, when we were alone." Nathanael nearly smiled to himself, he was good at making others feel guilty, it was part of his charm.

"Being a suck up won't get you far," the girl said, breaking Nathanael's 'charm'.

Nathanael looked up at her, his smile now showing. "And I nearly thought it was working. The name's Nathanael."

The girl seemed to consider if she should reply.

"Hermione," she finally answered.

Nathanael nodded. "Well, I must apologise for my behaviour, I was rude and a little rash."

"A _little_ rash?" The red head said, standing. "You call pulling a knife on someone, even if it is Malfoy, a little rash?" The boy looked at Nathanael with a mixture of hate and fear.

Nathanael answered back calmly, unconcerned at the boy's rage. "That was just a little fun, the dagger isn't even real." Being careful of Amitiel, Nathanael reached into his robe and pulled out his dagger, muttering under his breath.

The red head tensed again raising his wand as Nathanael pulled out the knife and relaxed again when he easily bent it.

"It's just made of rubber," Nathanael reassured him.

The boy sat back down stashing his wand away and took a side glance at the girl, who called herself Hermione. She had abandoned her book and watched the two boys in silence.

"I'm Ron," he said, stroking his rat once again. "And this is Scabbers." He nodded towards his fat companion.

"Even _I _wouldn't eat something as dirty as that," Amitiel hissed, checking out the rat. "You don't know where that thing has been."

"This is Amitiel," Nathanael explained, pulling her off his shoulders. "She's a sly one."

Hermione moved closer to have a better look. She had to admit, Amitiel was a beautiful creature, with her stunning pattern that ran down her back and her ruby red eyes that starred right back at her.

"But why a snake?" Ron asked, picking up his rat, as Amitiel slid from her masters grasp onto the seat beside him. "Why not an owl, or a rat?"

"Or a cat?" Hermione added.

Nathanael laughed, "I have a messenger bird, if that's what you mean. Amitiel and I have been together for as long as I remember, she's like a part of me now."

The two only nodded, but they didn't know that he meant that quite literally.

"Well, we must get ready, I can already see the castle," Hermione said, standing.

Nathanael watched as Hermione and Ron pulled their luggage from the racks above their seats and dragged their luggage into the carriage where other students eagerly awaited to reach their destination.

Once they had left Amitiel coiled her way back up Nathanael's arm. He felt sick already.

"You should befriend those two, they could prove useful," she said softly. "Remember that."

Nathanael nearly roared in anger. "Why must I determine others fate? I can assure you they already have one planned!" His eyes began to cloud up with tears. "I can't handle it, Amitiel, I can't destroy any more lives."

Ruby red eyes looked at him sadly. "I know, Nathanael," was all she managed to say. "I know."


End file.
